OTTAWA — Concerned Canadians who wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper over the Senate spending scandal wanted him to do something with a group of truant senators, including suggesting as early as July to suspend three without pay.

Almost three months later to the day, that’s exactly what the Conservative majority in the Senate voted to do, suspending senators Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau and Mike Duffy without pay for the remainder of the parliamentary session, which could end in 2015.

The letters sent in the days after the public release of an RCMP court document detailing an alleged political cover-up of Duffy’s expense repayment and orchestrated out of the Prime Minister’s Office also show how concerning the revelations were to the party faithful.

“In order to stop this nonsence (sic)…Canadian (sic) want and expect action from you, our elected leader,” wrote one person identified as a Harper supporter. “Senators or MPs (in) question should simply (be) suspended without pay until the investigation is complete. It just is not palatable that the senators and MPs…be painted with the same brush like Duffy and Wallin.

“So please, take decisive action and give them their walking papers without $$.”

Even those who didn’t identify themselves as Conservative supporters expressed concern that after seven years in office, the Harper government hadn’t ensured widespread accountability in all corners of Parliament. And more than one writer asked Harper to launch a public inquiry into the Duffy-Wright affair so that all the players — the prime minister included — could testify under oath.

“This is not about more than a ‘Senate spending scandal,’ this is about the potential cover-up of the abuse of public money for partisan political purposes,” read one letter to the PMO. If parliamentary watchdogs or the RCMP were unable to wrap up investigations by the end of August, the writer said an inquiry would be “the only action that can begin to restore the public’s confidence.”

“In addition, the public inquiry should fully investigate all senators to determine if they are using public money to pay for partisan gain.”

The messages to Harper over three days in June — after Wallin went public with allegations that the PMO pushed her out of caucus, and after the RCMP confirmed it was investigating the $90,000 payment between Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, and Duffy — and three days in July — after the public release of an RCMP court document with allegations against Duffy — include form letters asking for Harper to shore up government accountability, a poem about ousting governments at the polls, two people asking for a Senate seat, and a few writers who sent a crude joke with the punch line being about the deaths of senators.

The June letters express a mix of reserved concern for what Wallin’s words and the RCMP investigation will mean for Harper, but unlike in July, there is also vitriol directed at Wallin herself. In late June, Wallin told CBC in an interview that she had made mistakes in her expenses, repaid $38,000, but denied having a sense of entitlement or purposely fiddling with her expenses.

“Wallin breaks silence,” one letter started. “Breaking wind was more like it.”

The writer goes on to call the interview a “meaningless and shameful public relations stunt” designed to take the pressure off her, the Senate and the PMO. The writer signs off by saying, “take care & rock on!”

Copies of the letters were released to Postmedia News under the access to information law.

Some of the letters were addressed to others — one was addressed to Sen. Elizabeth Marshall suggesting she should take over as government Senate leader from Sen. Marjory LeBreton — but sent as well to the PMO. One such letter was sent to Sen. Irving Gerstein, the only senator named in the original RCMP court document as having knowledge of the deal between Duffy and Wright.

Gerstein is the head of the Conservative Fund of Canada, which, the RCMP court document said, was tapped originally to repay Duffy’s housing claims. The idea was squashed when Duffy’s repayment bill was tabbed at $90,000, not the approximately $30,000 originally believed.

“What troubles me most about this is the fund that I contributed to was considered being used to pay off debts…and probably others we haven’t heard about yet,” read one letter who identified as a Conservative donor. “What other uses of our money is going on without our knowledge? It appears the rot in the Conservatives goes deeper than I thought.”

“I have been a Conservative supporter for over 40 years. Since the Senate scandals and the Duffy scandals have become mainstream news, I am finding it extremely difficult to justify why I should continue supporting your party,” reads another letter from a Tory supporter in Ontario.

The PMO sent several writers the same form letter response. In it, the PMO’s correspondence team wrote that Harper “shares your frustration with the conduct of those who seek to use public office for their own benefit.” The form letter also says that “Canadians expect action to prevent abuses” and touted a “Conservative initiated comprehensive audit of Senate expenses” and “11 tough new rules” for Senate spending.

“As we all know, more rules and regulations do not improve integrity and ethics,” one writer wrote in response. “Unless people elected to office have a basic understanding of what is correct in both public and private institutions, then all we will improve with more rules and regulations is the take home pay of lawyers and accountants.”